The ancient lands of the desert are rife with aged ruins guarded by stony sentinels from bygone days, whose implacable gaze can still the heart of a miscreant or scare off a would-be tomb robber. The ren monolith is a living monolith of the scribe caste, a wielder of mystic power. The ancient race of sphinxes is said to have endowed the first ren monoliths with their powers, raising statuettes to a semblance of life, but today, most of these paragons of justice are mortals who willingly take on the mantle of immortal guardians through ritual and devotion, imbuing themselves with the patience and eternal strength of stone.

There is also a curse to create a living monolith, as described in Warrior Prestige Archetypes, also by Purple Duck Games.

Class Information

This is a prestige archetype. Ren monoliths are immortal spellcasters with the might and resilience of stone.

Publisher:
Purple Duck Games.

Prestige Class: Living monolith from Pathfinder Player Companion: People of the Sands.

Role: Ren monoliths are sacred guardians, using magical powers to hinder and destroy tomb robbers. In a party, their role is essentially the same, to anticipate and destroy the enemies of the team.

Alignment: Any. Alignment is generally similar to that of the noble whose tomb they guard. There are more lawful and good monoliths than chaotic and evil ones, because those taking up the task voluntarily are usually lawful and evil nobles tend to prefer undead guardians. Adventuring living monoliths need an explanation why they no longer guardians.

Bonus Language: Sphinx. A ren monolith can pick sphinx as a bonus language, in addition to those allowed by his race.

Class Skills

Class Features

These are all the class features of the ren monolith.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Ren monoliths are proficient with the club, dagger, dart, mace (light), sling, and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armor or shield. Armor interferes with a ren monolith's movements, which can cause his arcane spells with somatic components to fail.

Spells

The ren monolith learns and casts spells exactly like a wizard, including using arcane magic, the effect of Intelligence on spellcasting, spellbooks, automatically learned spells, and cantrips.

Build Class

The wizard monolith can meld his spellbook with his ren stone, causing it to disappear and become inaccessible and indestructible. Many wizard monoliths scribe their spells on individual rolls of papyrus or stone tablets, and only need to take out the tablets for the spells they actually study. Melding or taking out the spell book is a move action. If the wizard monolith is dead or unconscious (sleep does not count), the spellbook immediately materializes.

Ren Stone (Su)

During his induction into this class, a ren monolith has a stone scarab embedded in his forehead, often set with gems or inlaid with precious metals. This stone is inscribed on its inner side with the monolith's true name and his oaths to the gods and pharaohs. It cannot be removed without his permission, cannot be dispelled (though it does not function in areas where magic does not work), and does not use a magic item slot.

The soul stone grants the ren monolith a +2 bonus on saving throws against death effects, mind-affecting effects, effects that grant negative levels, and on saves to overcome negative levels.

Additionally, a ren stone can be used once per day to cast any one spell that the ren monolith has in his spell list and of a level he is capable of casting. The ren monolith doesn't need to know the spell.
This spell is treated like any other spell cast by the ren monolith, including casting time, duration, and other effects dependent on the ren monolith's level. This spell cannot be modified by metamagic feats or other abilities.

Scribe Scroll

At 1st level, a ren monolith gains Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat.

Armor Bonus (Ex)

At 2nd level, a ren monolith receives +4 armor bonus to AC as a result of their ongoing petrification. This is an armor bonus (not natural armor) and does not stack with armor worn or effects that give an armor bonus, like mage armor.

Fortified Flesh (Ex)

At 3rd level, the flesh of a ren monolith takes on some of the hardness of stone. A ren monolith gains DR 1 and 10% immunity to critical hits and sneak attacks (as if wearing fortification armor). At 7th level and every four levels thereafter, this DR increases by 1 and the immunity to critical hits increases by 10%.

Figurine (Sp)

At 4th level a ren monolith can invoke the power of his ren stone 3 times per day as a standard action, enabling him to shrink to Tiny size as if using reduce person (even if he is not a humanoid or larger than Small in his natural form). This effect lasts until dispelled or dismissed by the ren monolith. For each size category larger than Small the ren monolith is in his natural form, the size penalty to Strength increases by -2.

Tombsight (Su)

At 5th level, a living monolith can perceive the balance of life and death, as if using deathwatch and detect undead simultaneously.

This power can be used at will and lasts as long as the living monolith concentrates.

Stone Blood (Ex)

At 6th level, the vital fluids and tissues of a ren monolith can selectively petrify in response to injury. A ren monolith automatically stabilizes when at negative hit points and is immune to continuous damage from bleed attacks (including weapons with the wounding special ability) and ability damage from blood drain

Stability (Ex)

At 8th level, a ren monolith becomes exceptionally stable on his feet, gaining a +4 bonus to his CMD when he resists a bull rush or trip attempt while standing on the ground. This stacks with a dwarf's stability trait and similar abilities.

Attunement to Stone (Sp)

At 9th level, a ren monolith can use meld into stone at will. The duration of this ability can be freely extended, and the ren monolith does not age, eat, drink, breathe, or need to sleep while so melded.

Immune to Disease

At 10th level, a living monolith becomes immune to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases (such as mummy rot). He is also immune to parasitic infestation and swarm attacks.

Summon Sphinx (Sp)

At 12th level the ren monolith gains a +4 bonus on Diplomacy checks to influence sphinxes, and can call upon the aid of the sphinxes. Once per day, the ren monolith can call a sphinx to his presence and bargain for its services as if using planar ally to call upon an outsider. At 16th level, this ability functions as greater planar ally.

Communion with Stone (Su)

At 14th level, a living monolith achieves a unique communion with the earth, gaining tremorsense to a range of 30 feet. Once per day, the living monolith can communicate with rock and stone as if using stone tell. He gains Terran as a bonus language.

Assumption of Stone (Sp)

At 16th level a living monolith becomes immune to petrification.
Also, he may use statue (sp) with a range of personal at will. Add any damage reduction the living monolith has to its hardness in statue form. The duration of this ability can be freely extended, and the living monolith does not age, eat, drink, breathe, or sleep while using it. Time in statue form does not count against the duration of any spell or spell-like ability the ren monolith has cast on himself, and all such spells are suspended for the duration. This allows the ren monolith to leave statue form and instantly be buffed and ready for combat.

Judgment of the Monolith (Sp)

At 17th level, a living monolith gains the divine authority to demand truthful answers. Once per day, a living monolith can conduct a ritual of inquisition. If performed on a dead body, this functions as speak with dead. Upon a living creature, it functions as a mark of justice that activates if the target lies to the living monolith.

Lore of Stone (Sp)

At 18th level a living monolith can use this power to entreat the spirits of the living and the dead to answer questions as if using contact other plane (treat as contacting a lesser deity).

Ageless Stone (Ex)

At 20th level, a living monolith becomes immortal. He ceases aging (though any aging effects already accrued remain in place) and becomes immune to energy drain and death effects, though he can still be killed by other means.

Table: Ren Monolith

Class Level

Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

Special

Spells per Day

0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

9th

1st

+0

+0

+0

+2

Build class, ren stone, Scribe Scroll

3

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

2nd

+1

+0

+0

+3

Armor bonus +4

4

2

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

3rd

+1

+1

+1

+3

Fortified flesh 1

4

2

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

4th

+2

+1

+1

+4

Figurine

4

3

2

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

5th

+2

+1

+1

+4

Tombsight

4

3

2

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

6th

+3

+2

+2

+5

Stone blood

4

3

3

2

—

—

—

—

—

—

7th

+3

+2

+2

+5

Fortified flesh 2

4

4

3

2

1

—

—

—

—

—

8th

+4

+2

+2

+6

Stability

4

4

3

3

2

—

—

—

—

—

9th

+4

+3

+3

+6

Attunement to stone

4

4

4

3

2

1

—

—

—

—

10th

+5

+3

+3

+7

Immune to disease

4

4

4

3

3

2

—

—

—

—

11th

+5

+3

+3

+7

Fortified flesh 3

4

4

4

4

3

2

1

—

—

—

12th

+6/+1

+4

+4

+8

Summon sphinx

4

4

4

4

3

3

2

—

—

—

13th

+6/+1

+4

+4

+8

Assumption of stone

4

4

4

4

4

3

2

1

—

—

14th

+7/+2

+4

+4

+9

Communion with stone

4

4

4

4

4

3

3

2

—

—

15th

+7/+2

+5

+5

+9

Fortified flesh 4

4

4

4

4

4

4

3

2

1

—

16th

+8/+3

+5

+5

+10

Summon sphinx (greater)

4

4

4

4

4

4

3

3

2

—

17th

+8/+3

+5

+5

+10

Judgment of the monolith

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

3

2

1

18th

+9/+4

+6

+6

+11

Lore of stone

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

3

3

2

19th

+9/+4

+6

+6

+11

Fortified flesh 5

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

3

3

20th

+10/+5

+6

+6

+12

Ageless stone

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

Alternate Build Classes

A ren monolith learns and casts spells exactly like the build class, including type of magic (arcane, divine, or psychic), the effect of ability scores on spellcasting and cantrips, knacks or orisons. He only suffers arcane spell failure in armor if he casts arcane spells.

In addition, the ren monolith inherits the following class features from the build class. This replaces the build class feature, above.

Psychic
The psychic monolith gains the psychic discipline class feature, including discipline spells and discipline powers. Because he lacks a phrenic pool, certain discipline powers do not work, notably those of the Enlightenment discipline.

Sorcerer
The sorcerer monolith gains Eschew Materials as a bonus feat at level 1. He selects a bloodline, but gains only bloodline spells, bloodline arcana , and the bloodline skill from the bloodline; the rest of his power is channeled into the ren stone. Most sorcerer monoliths have bloodlines related to earth or the dead.

Witch
A witch monolith has no familiar and stores his spells in his ren stone. He gains patron spells; most witch monoliths have patrons related to earth or the dead.

Favored Class Bonuses

Instead of receiving an additional skill rank or hit point whenever they gain a level in a favored class, some races have the option of choosing from a number of other bonuses, depending upon their favored classes. The following options are available to the listed race who have ren monolith as their favored class, and unless otherwise stated, the bonus applies each time you select the listed favored class reward.

Zendiqi: FEC Add a spell from your spell list to your familiar, known spells, or spellbook that has the air, earth, fire, or water descriptor and is at least one level lower than the highest level spell you can cast.

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